Maryland pro-life leaders warned this week about a proposed state constitutional amendment that could allow abortions for any reason up to birth and threaten pro-life pregnancy centers across the state.
The Maryland Senate likely will vote this week on the so-called Right to Reproductive Freedom Act (House Bill 705), and Maryland Right to Life expects it will pass. The state House already approved the bill in a 99-37 vote March 4.
Laura Bogley, executive director of the pro-life organization, said the people of Maryland rejected three previous versions of the bill in the past four years because it is so extreme, but the abortion industry has a lot of money and influence.
“While many states are choosing to move forward with legislative protections for preborn human beings that reflect advances in medical science, the state of Maryland has taken a regressive and even oppressive approach to abortion,” her organization said in a statement Tuesday.
ACTION ALERT: Please help stopt his radical pro-abortion legislation. Contact Maryland Senate lawmakers.
Maryland already allows unborn babies to be aborted for any reason up to birth, but the proposed constitutional amendment would make it more difficult for future state legislatures to pass any protections for unborn babies and mothers.
If the amendment passes and voters approve it on the 2024 ballot, the Maryland Constitution would include a “fundamental right to reproductive freedom,” including abortion, and prohibit the state from “denying, burdening or abridging” that right.
Bogley said the amendment would hurt the very people whom abortion activists claim to want to help: women. She said it could be used to silence pro-life sidewalk counselors and shut down pregnancy resource centers that help mothers and babies in need.
“This bill would deprive women of reproductive choices and access to lifesaving alternatives to abortion by threatening the very existence of pro-life pregnancy centers,” she said.
For pregnant women and girls in need, the state offers “nothing more than unlimited access to abortion,” Bogley continued.
And while pro-abortion lawmakers claim abortion is health care, Bogley said state laws and policies do not treat it that way. Unlike other medical facilities, abortion facilities are not held accountable if they fail to meet basic health and safety standards, such as mandatory reporting suspected sexual abuse or human trafficking, she said. Doctors no longer are required to be involved in abortions either, and do-it-yourself abortions are allowed via the abortion pill.
As a result, the Maryland abortion industry already is “dangerous” and “substandard” — basically legal “back alley” abortions, Bogley said.
Pro-life advocates and Republican lawmakers have questioned Democrats about the need for such an amendment because abortion is basically unlimited in Maryland. Taxpayers are forced to fund elective abortions, too, and, according to the Maryland Department of Legislative Services, they spend about $6.5 million to fund nearly 10,000 elective abortions annually. Millions more go to the abortion industry to teach sex education in public schools and train future abortionists.
Maryland also has two late-term abortion facilities. However, the state does record any abortion data, so it is not clear exactly how many unborn babies are killed there every year. Johnstons Archive reported an estimated 30,750 abortions in 2020 based on research from the Guttmacher Institute.
Bogley urged voters to contact their state lawmakers in opposition to the amendment and urge their family and friends to do the same.
“We ask that you … urge your friends, church and contacts to join Maryland Right to Life as we prepare to defeat the evil that is abortion extremism in our state,” she said. “It is with confidence that we will rise above this challenge for God’s greater Glory. We are fully committed to providing essential support to women and families in need.”
Since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that there is no constitutional right to abortion in June, the pro-abortion movement has been trying to create a “right” to abort unborn babies in state constitutions through ballot initiatives. Vermont, California and Michigan passed pro-abortion constitutional amendments in November, and abortion activists are trying to advance similar measures in other states.
Several states have pro-life constitutional amendments that voters passed in recent years, including Alabama, Louisiana, Tennessee and West Virginia.
Currently, 14 states are enforcing pro-life laws that prohibit or strictly limit the killing of unborn babies in abortions, and others are fighting in court to do the same. Pro-life leaders estimate tens of thousands of babies’ lives have been saved since the overturning of Roe v. Wade in June.
Polls consistently show a strong majority of Americans support legal protections for unborn babies, especially after the first trimester or once their heartbeat is detectable.
ACTION ALERT: Please help stopt his radical pro-abortion legislation. Contact Maryland Senate lawmakers.
